IPC/CE/35/7

page 4

WIPO / / E
IPC/CE/35/7
ORIGINAL: English
DATE: September 21, 2004
WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION
GENEVA

special union for the international patent classification
(ipc union)

COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS

Thirty-Fifth Session

Geneva, October 25 to 29, 2004

CLASSIFICATION TOOLS RELATING TO
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND BIODIVERSITY

Document prepared by the Secretariat

At the thirty-fourth session of the Committee of Experts of the IPC Union, held in February 2004, the WIPO Task Force on Classification of Traditional Knowledge submitted to the Committee a report which described the work carried out by the TaskForce in the year 2003 (see document IPC/CE/34/8). The Committee appreciated the work done by the Task Force and noted that, upon its final adoption at the session, the revision project C425 relating to the creation of the new main group A61K 36/00 for traditional medicine could be considered completed and the result would be available in the next edition of the IPC. The Committee agreed with the suggestion of the Task Force that a more detailed revision could be carried out at a later stage, in the course of the next IPC revision period (see document IPC/CE/34/10, paragraphs 48 to 55).

The Committee noted, with appreciation, that the International Bureau (IB) had prepared two surveys that appeared as Appendices to the Task Force report and agreed with the conclusion provided in the Appendices that the Task Force could use the survey as a basis when considering its work on further development of classification tools for traditional knowledge and other relevant areas and how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation which was in the public domain.


The Committee finally instructed the TaskForce to continue its work on further development of classification tools for traditional knowledge and other relevant areas, and requested the Task Force to consider how the future revised IPC could be linked to traditional knowledge resources classifications which may be developed in various countries and how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation which was in the public domain, including the hyperlinking of the IPC to traditional knowledgedatabases.

The IB then prepared a Task Force Work Program for the year 2004 according to the instructions of the Committee. The final version of this Work Program is included as Annex I to this document and contains the following three main tasks:

– consideration of how the future revised IPC could be linked to the traditional knowledge resources classification (TKRC) developed in India and elaboration of proposals on hyperlinking of the IPC to TKRC and on the IPC-TKRC concordance list;

– consideration of the need for further development of the IPC in the fields which cover the relevant subject matter relating to biodiversity, on the basis of the survey by the IB, and prepare revision proposals if any;

– consideration of how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation in the public domain, including hyperlinking the IPC to traditional knowledge databases and elaboration of an initial proposal, taking into account the work done by the Meeting of International Searching Authorities (PCT/MIA) and the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC).

In response to the first task mentioned above, India submitted an initial proposal on the IPC-TKRC concordance list, which had been prepared on the basis of the new main groupA61K36/00 adopted by the Committee of Experts at its thirty-fourth session. Sample pages of the concordance are attached as Annex II to this document for reference.

The list provides information for the searchers, who are carrying out a search in the field of traditional medicine, and are particularly interested in the traditional medicine documentation published in India, by indicating how an IPC symbol relating to a specific subject matter corresponds to a TKRC symbol concerned with the same or similar subject matter. This information will also facilitate searching in the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) created by India, which is a TKRC-based database.

Further examination of the details of the proposed IPC-TKRC concordance list would be necessary and will be carried out by the Task Force members. The final version of the concordance will, upon completion by the Task Force, be posted on the WIPO website.

Furthermore, future consideration should also be given to the ways of hyperlinking the IPC to the TKRC-based TKDL database.


As has already been indicated in the survey prepared by the IB, the IGC, in the course of its activities, had compiled two TK-related inventories of periodicals and databases, and made a proposal, to be considered by the International Searching Authorities (ISAs), that certain of those periodicals be incorporated, as non-patent literature (NPL), into the PCT minimum documentation list.

At the request of the PCT Committee for Technical Cooperation (PCT/CTC), the PCT/MIA at its seventh session undertook to initiate a study of the composition of the PCT minimum documentation and make recommendations concerning the NPL part of the PCT minimum documentation, in particular with regard to its possible extension to TK documentation (see document PCT/MIA/7/5, paragraphs 8 to 17). The PCT/MIA agreed that such integration could significantly improve the quality of international searches in areas where TK documentation represents a rich source of information and agreed in principle that TK documentation should be included in the NPL part of the PCT minimum documentation.

The PCT/MIA then took the initial IGC inventory of TK-related periodicals as the starting point for its study, and decided on a set of criteria for the selection of appropriate TK periodicals for inclusion in the NPL list (see document PCT/MIA/7/5, paragraph 12).

As a result of discussions of the ISAs, 11 TK-related periodicals were approved for addition to the NPL list, on the basis of an analysis compiled by the IB taking into account the selection criteria and views expressed by the ISAs. The periodicals are:

Journal of Ethnopharmacology;

Journal of Chinese Medicine;

Economic Botany, Journal of the Society of Economic Botany;

Pharmaceutical Biology;

Acta Pharmaceutica;

Planta Medica;

Phytochemistry;

Journal of Nutrition;

Journal of Natural Products;

Fitoterapia;

Phytotherapy Research.

The work of the PCT/MIA will continue both to review the possible further extension of the NPL list of the PCT minimum documentation in the TK-related fields where appropriate and to promulgate an agreed list of recommended TK-related databases for use in the search process taking into account the IGC-produced inventory. With regard to the latter, the IB has established a PCT Minimum Documentation website, through which, ISAs could get access to an IBdeveloped tool (TKlinks) to aid further investigation of the database sources available and their potential use.


The IPC is, at present, the main tool facilitating access to NPL. However, details with respect to the elaboration of certain standards for classification and retrieval of NPL, and possible use of automated classification means, for example, the IPC Categorizer, would have to be further specified in order to effectively use the IPC for those purposes.

The Committee is invited to take note of the contents of this document and the Annexes thereto and consider the future work of the Task Force.

[Annexes follow]

IPC/CE/35/7

Annex I, page 2

2004 WORK PROGRAM OF THE WIPO TASK FORCE ON CLASSIFICATION OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE ESTABLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS OF THE IPC UNION

At the thirtyfourth session of the Committee of Experts of the IPC Union, held in February 2004, the WIPO Task Force on Classification of Traditional Knowledge, established at the thirtieth session of the Committee, submitted to the Committee a report which described the work carried out by the Task Force in the year 2003 (see document IPC/CE/34/8). The Committee appreciated the work done by the Task Force and noted that, upon its final adoption at the session, the revision project C425 relating to the creation of the new main group A61K36/00 for traditional medicine could be considered completed and the result would be available in the next edition of the IPC. The Committee agreed with the suggestion of the Task Force that a more detailed revision could be carried out at a later stage, in the course of the next IPC revision period (see document IPC/CE/34/10, paragraphs 48 to 55).

The Committee noted, with appreciation, that the International Bureau had prepared two surveys that appeared as Appendices to the Task Force report and agreed with the conclusion provided in the Appendices that the Task Force could use the survey as a basis when considering its work on further development of classification tools for traditional knowledge and other relevant areas and how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation which was in the public domain.

The Committee finally instructed the TaskForce to continue its work on further development of classification tools for traditional knowledge and other relevant areas, and requested the Task Force to continue its consideration of how the future revised IPC could be linked to traditional knowledge resources classifications which may be developed in various countries and of how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation which was in the public domain, including the hyperlinking of the IPC to traditional knowledge databases.

The following table contains the work program of the Task Force for the time period until the end of 2004, prepared by the International Bureau. For each action, the members involved and the deadlines are indicated.

ACTION / PARTICIPANTS / DEADLINE
1. Consideration of how the future revised IPC could be linked to the traditional knowledge resources classification (TKRC) developed in India and elaboration of proposals on hyperlinking of the IPC to TKRC and on the IPC-TKRC concordance list / IN / July 1, 2004
2. Consideration of the need for further development of the IPC in the fields which cover the relevant subject matter relating to Biodiversity, on the basis of the survey by the IB, and prepare revision proposals if necessary / CN, EP, IN, JP, US / September 1, 2004
3. Consideration of how to best organize access to traditional knowledge documentation in public domain, including hyperlinking the IPC to traditional knowledge databases and elaboration of an initial proposal, taking account of the work done by the WIPO MIA and IGC
/ IB / September 1, 2004
4. Comments on documents prepared under item 1
/ CN, EP, IN, JP, US / October 1, 2004
5. Comments on the initial proposals prepared under items 2 and 3
/ CN, EP, IN, JP, US / November 1, 2004
6. Final proposals based on items1 to 5 / IB or Rapporteur(s) (IN for item 1) / January 1, 2005
7. Preparation of a draft interim TF progressreport
/ IB / July 30, 2004
8. Comments on the draft interim report
/ CN, EP, IN, JP, US / August 20, 2004
9. Preparation of an interim TF progress report to the Committee of Experts
/ IB / September 1, 2004
10. Consideration by the Committee ofExperts
/ October 25 to 29, 2004
Preparation of the Task Force report to the Committee of Experts / IB / January 15, 2005

[Annex II follows]

IPC/CE/35/7

Annex II/Annexe II

page 7

Concordance Table Between ADOPTED IPC SYMBOLS (A61K 36/00, Medicinal Preparations of Undetermined Constitution, DOCUMENT IPC/CE/34/10, ANNEX 2) and TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES CLASSIFICATION (TKRC) Codes

Sample pages/

TABLE DE CONCORDANCE ENTRE LES SYMBOLES DE LA CIB ADOPTÉS

(A61K 36/00, PRÉPARATIONS MÉDICINALES DE CONSTITUTION INDÉTERMINÉE,

ANNEXE 2 DU DOCUMENT IPC/CE/34/10)
ET LES CODES DE LA CLASSIFICATION DES ressources en matière de savoirs traditionnels (“TKRC”)

SPÉCIMENS DE PAGES

N / 36/00 / A61K 36/00 / Medicinal preparations of undetermined constitution / TKRC categories / TKRC Codes / Concordance /
IPC codes / TKRC Codes /
N / 36/02 / A61K 36/02 / • Algae
N / 36/03 / A61K 36/03 / • • Phaeophyta
(brown algae), e.g.
fucus
N / 36/04 / A61K 36/04 / • • Rhodophyta
(read algae), e.g.
porphyra / Gelidium amansii Lam. / A01A-1/898 / A61K 36/04 / A01A-1/898
Gelidium cartilagineum (Linn.) Gailion / A01A-1/899 / A61K 36/04 / A01A-1/899
Gracilaria lichenoides (Linn.) Harv. / A01A-1/929 / A61K 36/04 / A01A-1/929
N / 36/05 / A61K 36/05 / • • Chlorophyta
(green algae), e.g.
chlorella
N / 36/06 / A61K 36/06 / • Fungi
N / 36/062 / A61K 36/062 / • • Ascomycota
N / 36/064 / A61K 36/064 / • • • • Saccharomycetales, e.g. baker’s yeast
N / 36/066 / A61K 36/066 / • • •
Clavicipitaceae / Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul. / A01A-1/501 / A61K 36/066 / A01A-1/501
N / 36/068 / A61K 36/068 / • • • •
Cordyceps
N / 36/07 / A61K 36/07 / • •
Basidiomycota
e.g. Cryptococcus /

Agaricus alba

/ A01A-1/76 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/76
Agaricus campestris Linn. / A01A-1/77 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/77
Agaricus ostreatus Fries / A01A-1/78 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/78
Amanita muscaria Persoon / A01A-1/132 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/132
Mylitta lapidescens / A01A-1/1301 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/1301
Tuber cibarium Pers. / A01A-1/2019 / A61K 36/07 / A01A-1/2019
N / 36/074 / A61K 36/074 / • • • •
Ganoderma
N / 36/076 / A61K 36/076 / • • • • Poria
N / 36/09 / A61K 36/09 / • Lichens / Cetraria islandica (Linn.) Ach. / A01A-1/449 / A61K 36/09 / A01A-1/449
Parmelia perlata (Huds.) Ach. / A01A-1/1389 / A61K 36/09 / A01A-1/1389
Usnea longissima Ach. / A01A-1/2048 / A61K 36/09 / A01A-1/2048
N / 36/10 / A61K 36/10 / • Bryophyta (mosses)
N / 36/11 / A61K 36/11 / • Filicophyta or Pteridophyta (ferns) / Equisetum arvense Linn. / A01A-1/768 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/768
Lycopodium clavatum Linn. / A01A-1/1203 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1203
Marsilea minuta Linn. / A01A-1/1227 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1227
Polyporus officianalis Fries / A01A-1/1546 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1546
Selaginella involvens (Swartz) Spring / A01A-1/1764 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1764
Selaginella rupestris (Linn.) Spring / A01A-1/1765 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1765
Selaginella tamariscina (Beauv.) Spring / A01A-1/1766 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1766
Selaginella wallichii (Hook. & Grev.) Spring / A01A-1/1767 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1767
Selaginellla willdenovii (Desv. ex Poir.) J. G. Bak. / A01A-1/1768 / A61K 36/11 / A01A-1/1768
N / 36/12 / A61K 36/12 / • • Filicopsida or Pteridopsida / Actiniopteris dichotoma Bedd. / A01A-1/54 / A61K 36/12 / A01A-1/54